Method and apparatus for feeding granular material to conveying roasters



Jan. 10, 1928. 1,655,586

R. A. WAGSTAFF METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING GRANULAR MATERIAL T0CONVEYING ROASTERS Filed June 5. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

BY W 71. ATTORNEY Jan. 10, 1928. 1,655,586

R; A. WAGSTAF F METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING GRANULAR MATERIAL TOCONVEYING ROASTERS Filed June 5. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 10, 1928.

um'rso STATES PATENT orrics.

RICHARD A. VIAGSTAFF, OF'SALT LAKECITY,UTAH,ASSIGNQRTOAMERIGAN SMELT-ING- AND REFINING COMPANY, OF NEVI YUR-K, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

Marisol) annerrnnntrus FOR FEEDING GRANULAR-MAIERIAL To CONVEYINGROASTERS;

Application filed. June 3, 1925. Serial No. 34,594.

This invention relates to feeding appa ratuswhereby material may be fedto a refeeding mechanism for furnaces and the like, having a. rotatinginlet to receive material intermittently and in predetermined quantitiesfrom a moving. conveyor. The

intermediate receiving device is preferably positioned to receive thematerial andthen deliver it to a passageor a chute communicated' withthe interior of the furnace in such a manner as to prevent egress of thegases from-the furnace and to prevent ingress of air into thefurnace-duringthefeed:

ing, operations The intermediatereceptacle therefore'actsas a seal forthe passage or inlet into the furnace during the-intervals between thesuccessive periods of delivery of material thereto.

The invention also relates to suitable means for preventing the.clogging of the intermediate receptacle by; particles of. large size byprovidin-ga yielding abutment which normally closes the passage byresting. against the side of the receiving receptacle and is balanced soas to providea by-passage in event of theclogging; ofthe intermediatedevice.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be obvlousfrom the following particular description of one form of mechanismembodyingmy invention or from an inspection of the accompanyingdrawings; and the invention also consists in certain new and novelvfeatures of construction and combinations of. parts: hereinafter setforth and claimed;

In the following description and in the claims parts will be identified.by specific names for convenienceof expression but they are intended tobe as generic in their applicationto similar parts asthe art'willvpermit.

In the accompanying drawings '1 have shown for purposes of illustrationone form of mechanism with certain modifications thereof embodying theinvention in which Fig. I is an elevation'view in part section showingan embodiment of my inventioncomprising a cylinder feeder mounted tore-.

ceive material from anendlessconveyor and to discharge the materialintoa McDougall,

typeroaster, the cylinder feeder embodying my invention and the materialcarried there by servingas-a sea-lat theintake end of the. roaster, anda driving connection between theroaster center shaft drive and the"cyliin der feeder whereby the latter is made to feed into a roaster atpredeterminedintervals inaccordance with the rate of movement of thematerial'through the roaster,

Fig. Zis a sectional view along the line 2--2 oflligrl lookingin thedirection ofthe' arrows,

Fig. 3 isv a. transverse vertical sectional view of the rotatingcylinderand partof the chute of.Fig.. 1 with the cylinder in the receivingposition, V

Fig. tis a view similar to Fig. 3 withthe cylinder in the dischargeposition, and

Fig. 5is a. viewsimilar to Fig. 3 showing.

an alternate embodiment of the gate seal. In the drawings the McDougalltype roast er 1. communicates at the feeding opening.

2 in the r0of 3thereof with a feed chute, 4 whichextendsvertically'upwa-rds and terminates below the discharge end of the endless belt feeder 6. The latter rotates in a direction indicated by. thearrow thereon to carry. material such as ore or ore and fuel to thechute e into .whichthe material is discharged on the downward turn ofthe belt conveyor 6. The belt receives the material from. an or'econcentrate hopper 8 and is driven at a given rate of speed by suitablemeans not shown.

Within the chute 4 is mounted the hopper 9 which tapers from across-section at its top coi'ncidentfwith that of chute e to a substantially smaller cross section at its bottom.

and across which is mounted the hollow cyl inder 10, the sidesoftheho'pper 9-being cut out to conform to the shape'of the cylinderwhereby the latter fits in and forms a closely fitting closure for thelower end thereof. Journals I2, 12are provided at either end of cylinder10 (see Fig. 2 and a driving" sprocket la is mounted at one end on theshaft 15. As herein described the cylinder 10 as shown in Fig. 1 isintended to be driven in a clockwise direction. On the side of thehopper 9, from which the cylinder 1.0 rotates a slide 17 is providedwhich is coextensive laterally with the side 18 of the hopper and whichserves to secure a close fit with the cylinder. The opposite side, 20,terminates at such a distance from the cylinder 10 as to permit thepassage of particles of such size as might jam between these two membersand obstruct tie operation of the feeding apparatus.

A gate member 22 pivoted to chute at and extending through an opening inthe side thereof and throughout the width of the in terior thereofprevents the passage of'material past this point by bearing against theside of the cylinder. The gate isheld in this position normally by theweight 23 to support a normal quantity of material in hopper 9 but isreadily movable under unusual pressure to permit the material to passthereby. The are shaped closure member 24 serves to seal chute atagainst the passage of gases therethrough at any position into which itmay be moved by material from hopper 18.

Extending lengthwise of cylinder 10 is the opening 25 for receiving anddischarging material carried by the cylinder and this opening extendsthrough an arc approximately about one-fifth of the circumference of thecylinder in order to give proper clearance and ready discharge into theroaster 1.

Suitable means not shown which serves to drive the center drive shaft 27which carries the rabble arms (not shown) of. the roaster 1 serves alsothrough the gear 28 on shaft 27, the gear 30 on shaft 31, the pinions82, 32, the sprocket 33 and the sprocket chain 34 and said gear 14 todrive said cylinder 10 in a clockwise direction and at a rate dependingupon the rate of handling of the material by the roaster.

In the use and operation of the embodiment of my invention shown in thedrawing the rabble arms (not shown) of roaster l on shaft 27 are movedto cause movement of material being treated through the roaster in amanner well known in the art. Simultaneously with such movement cylinder10 is rotated in a clockwise direction at a predetermined speed so thatmaterial fed through the hopper 8 onto belt feeder 6 and discharged intochute 4 will pass into cylinder 10 when opening 25 is uppermost in apredetermined quantity and subsequently upon the rotation of thecylinder through a half circle when the opening 25 opens downward willdischarge from the cylinder through chute 4 onto the roaster hearth indesired quantities and at predetermined intervals. During this feed thefeeding cylinder 10 serves also as an air seal preventing egress ofgases from the roaster or the admission of air into the roaster thuspermitting more perfect regu lation and control of the draft forcombustion in the roaster. The gate 22 being normally held against theside of cylinder 10 also acts in sealing the roaster and at the sametime permits the passage past cylinder 10 of large pieces and alsoavoids the wedging and jamming of particles between cylinder 10 and thelower end of side 20 would naturally occur with that end of the chuterigidly spaced close to the cylinder.

An alternate mounting of gate 22 is shown in Fig. 5 in which it ispivoted to side 20 of hopper 9 and held in a normally closed position byweight 86 and it is obvious that various other changes and modificationsmay be made.

By means of my improved construction, it is obvious that a suitableregulation of the speed of rotation of the feed cylinder rela' tive tothe rotation of the hearth, will pro duce a' uniform and automaticfeeding of the ore upon the hearth, since the cylinder feeds in rowssubstantially across width of the hearth itself at the successive pointsof feed and the periods of revolution of the feed cylinder can beregulatedso that the charge therefrom will be delivered at the properspaced intervals upon the hearth to form a suitable layer.

The cylinder provides an automatic seal against ingress of air into thehearth whereby the draft may be definitely andpositively regulated. Atthe same time there is sufficient flexibility of operation in the deviceto prevent the choking or clogging of the feed passages by masses of oreor by individual large particles.

Although I haveshown and described and, have pointed out in the annexedclaims cer-; tain novel features of my invention, it will be understoodthat various omissions, sub stitutions and changes in the several stepsof my process and its operation and in the form and details of theapparatus illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeperting from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In combination with movable means for receiving and discharginggranular material, means in closely spaced relation with first saidmeans for guiding material thereto and serving as a partition between amaterial receiving space and a material discharging space, a memberforming part of the second said means normally next first said meansmovable for permitting the passage between said material receiving spaceand said material discharging space of material in excessive sizes oramounts and means tending to hold said movable means in its normalposition.

till

2. In. combination with a material treating apparatus, a feedingmechanism therefor comprising movable means for receiving anddischarging granular closely spaced relation with first said means forguiding material thereto and serving as a partition between a materialreceiving space and a material discharging space, a member forming partof second; said means normally next first said means movable forpermitting the passage between said material receiving space and saidmaterial discharging space of material in excessive sizes or amounts andmeans tending to hold said movable means inits normal position.

3. In combination, between an ore concentrates hopper and an oretreating furnace, apparatus for receiving ore as it is fed from thehopper and for feeding it to the furnace comprising a conduittherebetween, a movable receptacle member in said conduit, means on saidconduit in closely spaced relation to said receptacle member servingwith said receptacle as a partition between the hopper end and thefurnace end of saidconduit, a member forming part of said means normallynext said receptacle member movable for permitting the passage into saidfurnace of material in excessive sizes and amounts, and means tending tohold said movable means in its normal position.

4. The combination between an ore treating furnace having means thereinfor moving the ore therethrough, and an ore hopper material, means inhaving means for carrying ore therefrom to the furnace, of means forreceiving the ore from said carrying means and discharging it at apredetermined rate to the furnace, com prising a conduit, a movablereceptacle member in said conduit, means on said conduit in closelyspaced relation to said receptacle member serving with said receptacleas a partition between the hopper end and the furnace end of saidconduit, a member forming part of said means normally next saidreceptacle member movable for permitting the passage into said furnaceof material in excessive sizes and amounts, and means tending to holdsaid movable means in its normal position.

5. In combination with a hopper and a furnace, a flue interconnectingsaid hopper and said furnace, including mechanism for intermittentlysupplying material contained in said'hopperto said furnace, saidmechanism including dividing walls and a material discharging membersubstantially completely dividing said flue into material receiving andmaterial discharging spaces, one of said walls including a movablemember whereb lar 'e material ma ass around said material dischargingmember into said furnace, and a weight for urging said movable membertoward its normal position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

RICHARD A. WAGSTAFF.

